New BEL with pink blotches

Greetings all.

Today I came into possession of a BEL (Mojave/Russo) who looks not to be in great shape. When I first got her home and checked her over there was a small speck crawling on her, which I am presumptively treating as a snake mite and keeping her quarantined (as I would anyway). However she was kept on woody substrate and my hope is that this was some other kind of bug, as I do not see any other mites in her pits/eyes/cloaca. I am still leaning towards treating her empirically.

She also has some concerning pink spots on her. I previously owned a big albino female who would occasionally get pink blotches from pressing against the edges of her hide, but this looks obviously different. One consideration is that her previous owner fed her live (I will be switching her to f/t) and I wonder if her prey could have hurt her. The other thought is mite bites. She is very timid but not aggressive.

Other than that, she seems okay. Per previous owner she eats and sheds. With me she does not seem lethargic or ill. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts about these blotches. If they don't clear up after her first shed with me or if she exhibits any other problems, I will take her to the vet. She also doesn't have a name yet... Open to suggestions. Thank you.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/jtx3ov7.jpg

I'd assume that was a snake mite & treat for mites. (but nothing heavy-handed- maybe a soak w/ drop of soap to drown any you missed, & Natural Chemistry spray for mites) At least mites do show up pretty well on her, but there's always eggs too- just don't want their numbers to take off.

Are there any more of those pink spots elsewhere (underneath etc) or are they all on top? Could be most anything- from bites to bacterial infection? Doesn't really look like a scrape-injury to me, nor do they look like rodent bites or anything a rodent could have done. But with live rats, maybe the rats had bugs.

I think she's overdue for some "TLC" (that's 'tender loving care'). But it does appear she's a good eater, so that's a plus.

I guess you could always call her "Spot", hahahaha!

Yep, that's roughly my plan. She had an hourlong soak with dish soap yesterday that didn't dislodge anything, so I think her mite burden is at least not high. And yes... Grateful that she's light-colored! And very happy that she is a proper weight, or I would be more worried.

Her belly looks normal, no pink. Believe me, I went deep down the rabbit hole of sepsis in white BPs presenting as pink splotches yesterday, but I've pretty much talked myself out of it. Her skin looks less angry today, I think the soap in the soak may have irritated her a little. Will add less next time, but I'm thinking about giving her a break for a few days to see if she won't eat for me.

I hope you're right. I have a soft spot for the underdogs, I think a lil TLC will help us both bond. :)

I have a "soft spot for the underdogs" too- I think that's why I love snakes in the first place. They get such a bad rap most of the time.

When you soak a snake for mites, only use a drop or two of dish soap- that's ALL you need to break the surface tension of the water so the nasty mites drown, instead of swimming or floating.

From that picture, the spots all seem to align with her spine- is that what you're seeing too? I wonder if something in her previous housing was irritating to her skin? I hope she'll be okay, but if they increase or don't fade, it would be a good idea to see a vet. I agree though, I'd check her appetite first.

To me those spots look like mite bites. Most of them are along the dorsal which makes me think it's mites (for whatever reason they want to be there, maybe heat or veins).

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Originally Posted by Erie_herps

To me those spots look like mite bites. Most of them are along the dorsal which makes me think it's mites (for whatever reason they want to be there, maybe heat or veins).

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I was wondering that too, especially since a mite was found. Also thinking that maybe the live rats this snake was fed previously might have had fleas etc. I've had albino snakes before, but never any with mites to know how the bites might show up- so thanks for the input. I've only ever had 2 snakes with mites, one black & one brown, many years ago.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I was wondering that too, especially since a mite was found. Also thinking that maybe the live rats this snake was fed previously might have had fleas etc. I've had albino snakes before, but never any with mites to know how the bites might show up- so thanks for the input. I've only ever had 2 snakes with mites, one black & one brown, many years ago.

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Mites or fleas would make sense. I've seen posts like this before and if I recall correctly the consensus was that they were mites. I'll see if I can find that thread again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Erie_herps

To me those spots look like mite bites. Most of them are along the dorsal which makes me think it's mites (for whatever reason they want to be there, maybe heat or veins).

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Interesting seeing you say that, I was thinking the opposite. Maybe it has to do with the type of heat source, but I've seen them primarily on the belly and lower 1/3 of the body aside from eyes. Could be that RHP and CHE make them behave differently and condense toward the top?

Everything other than the placement makes me think mites and I think treating for them is appropriate. When I last dealt with them, the method NERD suggested (I'd look up the video on youtube to get the full instructions if you want to try it but involves temperature controlled shallow soak for long periods of time) was the only thing that worked, everything else they just kept coming back even though I was treating for 2 weeks.

Here's a relevant post about a snake with pink spots showing up on white being related to mites.
https://community.morphmarket.com/t/...-help/14656/28

Thanks guys. I'm thinking probably mite bites too, though I haven't found anything else on her. Here's a video I took of the mite when I first spotted it. It's not exactly in focus so it's pretty much a small moving brown dot lol:

https://imgur.com/uRqotmy